One has to wonder what caused such a disparity in out-marriage rates between Asian American men and Asian American women. The popular stereotypes of Asian American men and women in American culture may have had a significant influence on the out-marriages rates of Asian American men and women. From the early 20th century, Asian American women have been portrayed as feminine, exotic and obedient sexual objects well suited for the sexual desires of white men. In the 1960s film “The World of Suzie Wong”, the Chinese prostitute Suzie Wong has all the traits of an ideal Asian female in the eyes of westerners. For decades, the image of Suzie Wong has been the image many white males wish for when looking for an Asian wife. Whether the wives are Filipino, Vietnamese or Chinese, the white husbands all want to marry Asian girls who are sexually and domestically obedient.
As the Asian culture is often viewed as feminine, Asian American men are viewed as feminine too. From the early history of Chinese Americans we see that Chinese men are often viewed as “yellow peril” (Chang). Many of the early Chinese men worked in feminine jobs such as laundry workers in America. Later on it’s replaced by the stereotypical view of Asian men as math geeks and nerds, which are also relatively feminine. There are very few lead roles for Asian American men in American movies. Even if there are, sometimes the roles can be very feminine. For example, the movie “Farewell My Cuncubine” by Chinese director Chen Kaige, has the male leading role playing a woman in Chinese operas. Indeed, many Chinese men are known to play female roles in Chinese operas. However, this kind of feminization in media only adds to the perception that Chinese men are not masculine and are not desirable as husbands.
This kind of perception by American public likely contributed to the difference between the out-marriage rates between Asian American men and Asian American women. According to the research paper by Fryer, among all marriages, percent of white males marrying Asian females increased from 0.1% in 1960 to 0.9% in 2000 (Fryer). However, during the same period, the percentage of white females marrying Asian males only increased from 0.1% to 0.3%. The ratio of out-marriage between Asian men and Asian women stayed at about the same at 1 to 3. If the data is analyzed according to education, it shows that college-educated Asian men and women are more likely to inter-marry with other races. As education adds social status, it can give more flexibility and choice to marriage-age Asians.
Despite the rise in interracial marriages in Asians, Asian males are consistently less likely to out-marry than Asian females over the years. To find an explanation we only have to look at the portrayal of Asian males in American mainstream. The 2014 movie The Interview mocks the North Korean leader as a stupid and clumsy dictator. The White Americans in the movie somehow persuaded the female Korean officer to rebel against her own country. The Asians in the movie all speak with terrible accents which make them look ridiculous. Although it is a comedy, the whole storyline is extremely racist and perpetuates the racial stereotypes of Asian American men and women in the mainstream American media. These kinds of persistently negative portrayal of Asians in the media can have lasting negative impacts on the lives of Asian American men and women.
Even the most viewed video on the internet could not void mocking Asian males. The Youtube video “Gangnam Style” has more than 2 billions views and is the most viewed Youtube video of all time. However, in the video, the Korean rapper Psy fits the stereotypical role of Asian males as someone with an accent and as a “jester”. This portrayal “fits into the stereotypes of Asian males as asexual, unattractive and undesirable.” (Kim).
Despite these negative portrayals of Asians, Asian Americans who marry outside their race are often more successful economically. According to the Pew Research analysis, in 2008, white/Asian newlyweds have significantly higher income than other paring groups (Wang). Asian husbands and white wives make the highest median earnings among all the pairings (Wang). It is likely that these Asian husbands probably already had higher social status and education before the marriages. Higher social status and education are probably factors that can increase the out-marriage rates of Asian American men.
While researching for this topic, I ran into a very interesting documentary by filmmaker Debbie Lum. Her documentary, “Seeking Asian Female”, was broadcasted on PBS. It tells the story of a white American man in his journey to find an Asian wife (Lum). The man, Steve, is twice divorced, and works as an airport garage attendant. His lack of career achievement probably caused him to be an old bachelor. But on the other hand, he is an American who has “yellow fever”. He is determined to find an Asian wife through online dating sites. Finally he finds a 24 year-old Chinese woman Sandy who is willing to marry him. The surprising thing is Sandy doesn’t speak English and Steve doesn’t speak Mandarin. They have to communicate through Google Translate. Steve wants an Asian wife because he has this idealized view of Asian women being submissive. Sandy wants an American husband because she has this idealized view of American men being rich and charming. After they are married and start to live together, they find out that reality is far more different than imagination. Steve is poor and lives in a cramped apartment. Sandy is very temperamental and often has fights with Steve. Language difficulties also make communication difficult between them. Sandy realized that life with Steve is not the ideal life she expected. Steve realized that Sandy is not the obedient wife he fantasized, but a strong-willed Chinese woman. As the reality breaks down stereotypes of race and sex, Sandy and Steve learn how to live together and change for each other. Steve begins to change his habits and lifestyle as he adapts to Sandy. It is an extreme case of interracial marriage between totally different backgrounds. Despite the challenges and difficulties, they appear to have made it to work.
Stories like Steve and Sandy’s likely exist in many interracial marriages between Asian women and white men. Very often Asian women view marrying white men as a path to economic security. As a Chinese student myself, I know some of Chinese women want to marry American men for green card and American citizenship. Despite China’s economic rise, many Chinese women still view China as a heavily polluted country with too much competitive pressure. They want to raise their kids in America so their children can escape the competitive exam pressures in Chinese grade schools. Over the years, American white men are consistently attracted to Asian women, likely because of their persistent view of Asian women being submissive, which is perpetuated by the American media.
So 50 years later, “The World of Suzie Wong” turns into “Seeking Asian Female”. The romance between Asian females and white American males are as enduring as the stories on the movie screen.
Fryer, R.G., “Guess Who’s Been Coming to Dinner” Trends in Interracial Marriages over the 20th Century”. Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 21, No 2, 2007.
Wang, W., “The Rise of Intermarriage”, Pew Research Center, February 16, 2012
U.S. Census Bureau, Table FG4, Married Couple Family Groups, by Presence of Own Children In Specific Age Groups, and Age, Earnings, Education, and Race and Hispanic Origin of Both Spouses: 2010 (thousands)".
Lum, Debbie, Seeking Asian Female, PBS.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/seeking-asian-female/film.html
Kim, Grace, “The Interview: No Laughing Matter”, Huffington Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/grace-jisun-kim/the-interview-no-laughing_b_6428382.html
Thank you!
Cheng Li